US stocks edge higher after long holiday weekend; Coca-Cola slumps on disappointing results
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Stocks were mostly higher in late morning trading Tuesday as investors return from a long holiday weekend. Coca-Cola slumped after turning in disappointing quarterly results. Health care stocks rose following news of a big merger in the pharmaceutical sector.
KEEPING SCORE: The Dow Jones industrial average was flat at 16,152 as of 11:30 a.m. Eastern. The Standard & Poor's 500 index rose three points, or 0.2 percent, to 1,842 and the Nasdaq composite rose 27 points, or 0.6 percent, to 4,271.
PHARMA DEAL: Forest Laboratories jumped $21.50, or 30 percent, to $92.88 after another drugmaker, Actavis, agreed to buy the company for $25 billion. Actavis makes the generic versions of hyperactivity disorder medication Concerta and the cholesterol drug Lipitor, while Forest makes the Alzheimer's treatment Namenda. Actavis rose $15.05, or 8 percent, to $206.89.
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Other health-care stocks also rose. Gilead Sciences rose 2 percent and UnitedHealth Care and Amgen increased 1 percent in early trading.
LOSING ITS FIZZ: Coca-Cola dropped $1.50, or 4 percent, to $37.43 after reporting a decline in fourth-quarter profit and sales from a year ago. The company, which also makes Sprite, Dasani and Vitaminwater, says sales volume declined 1 percent in North America.
STELLAR WEEK: The stock market is coming off its best week of the year. The S&P 500 gained 2.3 percent last week. Investors liked what they heard from Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen, who said she planned to continue her predecessor's market-friendly policies for the time being. The market's turnaround last week was especially notable given the rough start to the year.
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"I would be very surprised if we don't see the market move back to its highs very soon," said Randy Frederick, a managing director at Charles Schwab.
BONDS, GOLD: The yield on the 10-year Treasury note fell to 2.71 percent from 2.75 percent on Friday. Gold rose $3.80, or 0.3 percent, to $1,322.70, continuing a weeklong rally. A report from the World Gold Council showed that Chinese demand for gold rose 32 percent in 2013 from 2012, a sign that overseas demand may not be as weak as originally thought.
BACK FROM HOLIDAY WEEKEND: U.S. financial markets were closed Monday in observance of President's Day.